Advocating a Virtuous Voluntaryism

What I’ve Been Working on the Last Two Weeks

Hey all, go check out my latest! Sorry, it’s not the first installment of the much-promised series on the standing army in the United States. I am stalling on those still. No, it’s for the Thorpe-Freeman Blog Contest, and who knows, if they like it I may walk away with $250 (to be put to good use, I assure you), some subscribers for NOL, and a little name recognition.

Something like this is relatively hard for me to write because 1) there’s an actual deadline, 2) it’s got to be under 1000 words, 3) I have to riff off of a piece already in The Freeman, and 4) ideally, it should be better than standard fare. I gave it my best. Be sure to let me know what you think either here or at the article itself.

So, because it has to be under 1000 words, I couldn’t say all that I wanted to say unless I either dumbed it down or limited myself to just the more savory tidbits, leaving the readers to fill in the gaps on the rest, if they have any interest. In the piece I managed to drop enough names and ideas and book titles to where readers hopefully won’t be at a loss as to what to do. Most regular visitors to NOL and FEE likely wouldn’t need much direction anyways. Perhaps they would simply get some enjoyment out of the piece. After all, my little essay is a modest paean to the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), the great Leonard Read.

An FYI for my Christian readers: Read, who died thirty years ago last week, was a dedicated member of the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles (don’t be so shocked at its current state, it’s in California after all!) and along with his pastor, the Rev. James W. Fifield, an opponent of the New Deal and the Social Gospel. Fifield was the founder of Spiritual Mobilization, Inc., which published Faith and Freedom. This monthly journal went on to have a profound impact on a young man called R. J. Rushdoony, the first Christian Reconstructionist. Just some food for thought.